The Completely Forgettable Introduction
by LysCat
Summary: Taking a few days away from the base to visit her father to see if he survived the snap, Daisy runs into Steve Rogers at a bar. She didn't think she'd see him again…until the Avengers reach out to SHIELD.
1. Chapter 1

Title: The Completely Forgettable Introduction

Author: LysCat

Summary: Taking a few days away from the base to visit her father to see if he survived the snap, Daisy runs into Steve Rogers at a bar. She didn't think she'd see him again…until the Avengers reach out to SHIELD.

Couple: I don't have Captain Quake set up as a couple, but there are a couple moments between the two.

Disclaimer: I don't own anyone or anything familiar to Marvel.

Author's Note: So, this is going to be very out of character for Steve, but then again seeing how he was when Infinity War ended and his hopelessness (which we've never seen on screen before), maybe you guys can forgive me. Also, I've tried to lookup where it was that Daisy's dad went after his memory was wiped and he was given a second chance. I've never been able to find a definitive answer, for the sake of this story, I'm saying New York

Chapter 1

 _"Hey, Steve. Just calling to check in on you. Call m- "_

 _Steve Rogers quickly deleted the message._

 _"Steve, you haven't talked to us since we left Stark Tower, just making sure you're okay."_

He rolled his eyes. He loved Natasha like a sister he never knew he wanted, but he wished she realized that he just needed some time alone to deal with things before compartmentalizing them enough to take up some sort of semblance of leadership once again.

 _"Hey, man, Nat's getting worried since you've been radio silent for days now. Call her, us…someone."_

Steve snorted upon hearing Bruce Banner's voice. So, Nat had recruited help. Maybe if he didn't respond to either they'd get the point.

 _"Steve, hi. It's Sharon again."_

That voice caused him to freeze, and not in a good way. Pursing his lips, he considered deleting the message immediately, but he was curious as to what she had to say. Needless to say, his parting with Sharon occurred under less than pleasant circumstances.

 _"I tried calling before, but maybe you didn't get the message. Anyway, Natasha called me, I'm so sorry, Steve. If you need anything-"_

He deleted the message then. Nope, he wouldn't be accepting any help from her. He gave himself a mental reminder to ask Nat what she thought she was going by calling Sharon the next time he spoke to her.

"You look very annoyed."

The observation pulled him from his thoughts and he disconnected the call from the message center. He noticed a blonde sitting next to him and couldn't help but wonder when it was that she'd sat down. "That's probably because I am," he admitted.

"Never thought I'd see the day when I'd see Captain America drowning his sorrows at a bar." The last thing she'd expected to see when she walked into the bar was an Avenger throwing himself a pity party.

Following the events in Chicago, Mack had granted personal time to those that requested it and she'd taken the opportunity to leave for a few days and check on her father, hoping that he'd survived whatever it was the caused half the world's population to disintegrate. She'd been on her way back to the Lighthouse when she decided to stop in New York City for the night, splurging on one of the more swanky hotels the city had to offer. The bar was across the street and she figured she'd have one drink before returning to her room and taking advantage of the jetted tub in her bathroom.

He didn't bother correcting the moniker for the unknown woman. He'd never see her again after that night anyway. "And I never thought I'd see the day that I'd face such a situation that caused half of my team and friends to turn to dust, but here we are," he replied self-deprecatingly.

She watched him peer around the room as if checking for something as he pulled a flask out of his pocket and tip the contents into the empty shot glass before him. "You brought your own liquor to a bar?" She asked, unable to help herself.

"It's a present from an Asgardian friend of mine," he replied as he put it back in his pocket. "Alcohol has no affect on me. Whatever is in this flask, does."

Her eyes fell on his jacket where the flask had been placed in an inside pocket. Hmm. She wondered if it would affect her? She thought back to the last week. It wasn't until after a couple days after Coulson's goodbye that Daisy realized that despite the two shots of whiskey the group consumed that afternoon, she hadn't felt the usual in response. She'd casually mentioned it to Simmons who'd then taken it upon herself to test her enhancements. Whatever her previous numbers were where various exercises were concerned they were easily overshadowed by the new ones. It wasn't exactly what she wanted to do, but she knew her friend was doing everything she could to stay busy until they could rescue Fitz.

"So…you decided to come here and drink when you could have done it at home for free?"

Steve turned his head and looked at her, meeting her gaze for the first time. "Do you judge everyone you first meet or is it just me?" He asked, finishing his words with a frown. Hmm, maybe two nips was too much? He'd never once called someone out in a situation that wouldn't lead to a physical fight.

"No judgement," she instantly and easily denied. "Just curious."

"No offence, but I didn't go out to chat up some girl."

"Sure you did," she argued quickly.

Was this woman for real? He looked at her, as if she was some foreign object and attempted to size her up. "I beg your pardon?"

"You may not have had that exact reason in mind, but you're out because you want to lose yourself in something," she shrugged.

He grudgingly admitted that being out was much better than feeling sorry for himself at home. However, he refused to put that acknowledgement into words. He reached for the beer in front of him and took a swig from it.

"But," she stressed the word, "if you'd rather sit by yourself and stew in your thoughts instead of talking with the semi attractive woman next to you, I'll leave you to your…brooding." Standing up, she put her purse back on her shoulder and turned to leave him when she felt a hand reach for her own.

"You're right," he sighed quietly. "I apologize," he said, releasing her.

Daisy looked at him momentarily before sitting back down and removing her purse once again.

"I haven't had the best couple weeks."

"Yeah," she snorted. "You aren't the only one." Crossing her legs, she turned towards him. She caught the eye of the bartender and raised a hand. "Hi," she greeted.

"Quake? You are Quake…aren't you?" the bartender mused. "The blonde hair almost threw me off, but it is you. What can I get you?"

"Hi, yes, I am," she said giving him a small smile before giving her companion a side glance. Did he recognize the name? Because if so, it wouldn't take much for him to tie her to SHIELD. "Can I have a Pepsi or Coke?"

"Of course." He quickly filled her order and set the glass down in front of her, watching as she opened her purse. "On the house," he told her.

She froze. She'd been recognized in the past, but she'd never gotten a free drink out of it. "Oh. Are you sure?" She asked. Is this what it was like to be famous?

"My sister and nephew live in Chicago," the man explained. "If you hadn't done what you did…I hate to think about what would have happened to them."

"Oh," she said slightly awkward. She felt her cheeks burn in embarrassment. She'd never been able to accept compliments gracefully. "Thank you," she tacked on after a moment.

He nodded at her before looking at Steve. "You good, man?"

Steve looked at his half full drink. "I am, thanks," he said, watching the bartender move on. Turning his attention on his companion, he pursed his lips. "You a celebrity?" He asked then.

She cleared her throat. "No," she'd never classify herself as one. "You really don't know who I am?"

He gave her a closer look. There was nothing spectacular about his companion, nothing that shouted out to him. "Should I?" He asked after a moment.

"No," she said giving him a bright smile. "I'm Daisy Johnson," she said, extending a hand.

"Steve Rogers," he responded, noticing her hand. After a short hesitation, he returned the gesture. "Chicago?" He asked, watching as her smile once again faded.

He really had no idea? Not that she was going to say anything about it there. But he didn't know? She assumed that he and his team had been busy, but the showdown made it to CNN and all other news networks. They hadn't seen anything? Instead of saying anything she waved away the question. "It was nothing," she excused.

He didn't believe the excuse, but given the way she'd blushed when the bartender spoke he didn't think he'd get a straight answer out of her. "Not a big drinker?" He asked, nodding at the soda in front of her.

"Not anymore," she mumbled, mostly to herself. Not that she'd had an opportunity to drink herself stupid in the last few years. "No," she said more clearly. "Not really." She watched him once again pull the flask from his jacket pocket and pour the liquid in his shot glass before putting it away quickly and tossing the drink back. "The night is still young, maybe you should slow down," she suggested cautiously.

"Maybe you should mind your own business," he immediately returned.

"Wow," she said, nearly scoffing, "you do not handle your liquor well."

When she looked away from him and his general direction, he sighed. "Look," Steve began his voice much softer. "It isn't like I do this often. I've had a pretty shitty couple of weeks, so if I want to drink that away, what's it to you?" He asked completely missing the expletive that had come from his mouth.

She tilted her head and studied her companion. "Do you know what happens when you try and drink away your pain?" She asked rhetorically. "You wake up with a massive hangover and the pain is still there," Daisy warned him.

"Then at least I'll feel better tonight," he waved away.

* * *

The sound of rustling pulled him from his slumber and Steve opened his eyes and quickly closed them again. An ache immediately settled behind his eyes as his temples throbbed. He hadn't that much to drink in a long time. Throwing an arm over his eyes, he sighed and waited for sleep to reclaim him. When the bed was jostled he attempted to ignore it, however when he felt a shifting sensation under him he turned towards the direction of it and peaked out from under his arm. His stomach lurched as he watched a blonde woman move away from the bed.

What had he done? He'd had a one night stand with a random stranger? He knew that the Asgardian drink was much stronger than anything man made, but he didn't think his inhibitions would have been lowered so much. The last time he'd spent the night with a random woman, it was during the 1940's and the world was fighting against Hitler. It had gone against everything that he'd grown up believing, but there was nothing like living during a war to realize just how short life could really be. Other than that brief indiscretion, he'd never been with a woman that he didn't have at least some regard for…until last night.

As he'd only seen the back of her, he couldn't help but wonder if it was the woman from last night. What was her name again? She was blonde too, he recalled, attempting to mentally match them up by the shade of the hair. Had they gotten friendly enough to return to…what he assumed was a hotel room? Other than her, he couldn't remember another woman approaching him. Slipping a hand under the covers, he felt around and realized he was, at the very least, wearing boxers. Rolling towards the edge of the bed, he searched the floor for his pants. Reaching a pant leg, he used it to pull the clothing article onto the bed. He fished his wallet out of them and began looking for the condom he always carried on him. "Please tell me, I used protection," he muttered. Upon discovering it in the usual place, his stomach lurched. Pulling himself into a standing position, he put his pants on and sat back down on the edge of the bed. How could he have been so stupid? Unprotected sex with a stranger? He knew better than that! Natasha had drilled it into his head several times, not so much about safe sex, about not getting trapped by some gold digger.

"You okay?"

The question forced his head up as he looked at the woman from last night. "I can't believe I had sex with you."

Wow, just what every woman wanted to hear... In most instances she would have been offended by his words. Then again, given the rough shape he appeared to be in, holding anything against him didn't seem fair. Instead, she found herself snorting in amusement. "You think we had sex?" She asked.

Wait! They didn't have sex?! "You mean we didn't?"

"Call me old fashioned, but I prefer my sexual partners cognizant enough to oh…I don't know, know what they're doing. Don't get me wrong, sex while under the influence can be fun, but only when both parties are on similar levels."

"Then why did we wake up in bed together?"

"Because after I brought you back to my hotel room to sleep off your Asgardian liquor induced stupor I wasn't about sleep on the couch while you were totally unconscious and unable to appreciate the 1800 thread count sheets." she replied. "I promise you, your virtue was safe last night. Towels are in the bathroom if you'd like to…freshen up."

Though her words came off as an offer, he ran his hand through his…unruly hair and inhaled, noticing the scent of stale alcohol. Huh, even though it was Asgardian, it still had that similar scent. "You aren't very subtle," he replied.

"Yeah? Well, you aren't a nice drunk," she replied with a shrug.

He groaned. "What did I do?"

"Do?" She repeated. "Nothing. But you were kind of snippy. Last night when I suggested to you go easy on the drink you told me to mind my own business."

He winced. He'd actually said that? "Please accept my sincerest apologies. I never behave in such a way. The last couple weeks have been difficult, but I shouldn't have treated you in such a way."

She considered his choppy words. "Do you even remember last night?"

"I vaguely remember meeting you," he admitted.

So much for making an impression… She sighed. "So, I guess your super soldier serum is the reason that you aren't praying to the porcelain god right about now…" She watched him nod. "You still look pretty rough. Hot water does wonders, believe me."

"Thank you, D…." Was it Darcy? No, that was the name of Jane's friend. Darla? He scrunched his nose. No, that didn't sound right either.

"Wow, you could really give a girl a complex," Daisy said, looking away from him, not offering her name. "Chances are that every remaining person on the planet has lost someone directly or indirectly because of Thanos. You had your pity party and drowned your sorrows. Now, it's time for you to buck up and do what you do…save the world."

He frowned at her. "I should have the chance to grieve just like everyone else."

She tilted her head at him. "Unfortunately, Nick Fury placed you in a difficult role that you will never be able to shake," she denied softly. "Everyone looks to you and the rest of the Avengers for hope, how do you think they feel when you've lost hope?" It almost appeared like he was ready to argue, but gave in to her words, knowing that whether he liked it or not, she was right. She stood up, her eyes falling on the clock on the nightstand. "Check out is in like…forty-five minutes so you really should shower," she suggested, making her way towards her luggage and pulling it out of the closet.

He nodded. "Okay."

Once she was left alone, she finished packing up the rest of her clothes and personal items scattered around the room before pulling out her phone and shooting a quick text to Mack that as soon as she checked out, she'd be working her way back to the base.

By the time he re-emerged from the bathroom, freshly showered, even if he was wearing the same clothes, he felt human once again. The fog he'd awakened in was beginning to lift. He spotted the unnamed blonde woman standing beneath the threshold of the balcony door. She must have heard him because she quickly turned to look at him.

"All better?" Daisy asked, giving him a once over as she closed the door behind her. He nodded in response and she returned the gesture. "Good," she said reaching for her bag.

"I suppose I should say thank you for last night," Steve said then, watching her hesitate. "I was…so far gone and it could have been easy for anyone to have taken advantage of me." He looked around the room. "Uh, ready to go?"

She nodded, picking up her bag.

Steve patted down his body making sure he had everything that he'd left with the previous day before following her to the door.

"You, know, you never actually said 'thank you,'" she pointed out then as they stopped in front of the elevator.

"Thank you…" He said then, trailing off.

"You're welcome," Daisy replied simply, giving him a small smile.

"You aren't going to tell me your name?" He asked. He figured she would have supplied it when he'd purposely left his words open ended.

Daisy turned to him. "Considering the fact that I've made such an impression on you," she started, pointedly. "What would be the point?" She asked smiling, so he knew she wasn't angry or put out. The elevator doors opened and they entered the crowded lift, thus ending their private conversation.

Steve hesitated upon exiting the elevator, waiting for his morning companion. He wasn't sure what the proper etiquette was for someone in his position. He figured just leaving her without another word would be rude, and apparently, he'd done enough of that the previous night. He followed the blonde into the lobby, watching as she dropped her key card in the drop box and made her way towards the door.

Making her way outside, Daisy stopped at the valet booth and handed her ticket to the agent working the podium.

"I'll have this right out for you," he told her before running off to get her car.

Daisy turned to find Steve only a few feet from her. "You didn't have to follow me," she said.

Steve found himself nodding. "Yes, but I wasn't sure what the proper thing to do was in this situation," he admitted. "I thought leaving without a word would be rude."

Daisy tilted her head at him. She thought about teasing him in regard to his lack of care the previous night but changed her mind at the last second. "Take care of yourself, Steve Rogers. It was a pleasure talking to you…this morning."

"So, that's it?"

She smiled at him. "Pretty much." When she witnessed Lola being driven out of the underground parking garage, she made her way towards the curb.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

In the days since her return to the Lighthouse, Daisy spent her time exercising her enhanced abilities. Between the various exercises Jemma had her do in order to log the differences against her prior numbers and pushing herself to her limits, she kept herself busy. She'd approached Mack with the idea of reinstating the caterpillar program, something that both she and Elena Rodriguez were on the same page about. When the director gave their idea the go ahead, the pair began training together and though things weren't nearly as friendly as they once had been, they were working on it.

"What are you doing?" Yo-Yo asked panting, attempting to catch her breath. She'd just finished sparring against Daisy, though the other woman didn't appear to be any worse for the wear. While she stopped for water, Daisy began setting up their targets in random positions in the open grass before the lighthouse.

"I thought we could try something different," Daisy said, still setting up the targets.

Yo-Yo frowned, looking at the set-up. "It looks no different than our last exercises," she denied.

Daisy nodded. "Yes. I know we've already tested the time it takes to get through all of the targets, but I thought we could see how well you do when I'm shaking the ground beneath you." She knew that the shaking could be jarring, but if Yo-Yo trained enough, she'd be able to move just as fast as normal, potentially giving them the upper hand if they faced a larger threat.

"And it won't compromise the base?"

"Mack and I have checked the blue prints. We should be good." She would absorb the shock and release it into the atmosphere after every attempt.

"Okay," Yo-Yo said, standing up. "Sounds good to me."

"You ready?" Daisy asked. If her teammate needed more time, she'd give it to her.

The Spanish woman nodded. "I am." Something told her that it would take a couple attempts before she even found equal footing.

With Piper running a stopwatch to time them, it took three attempts before Yo-Yo was able to take down the first target. By their tenth attempt, Elena made it half way through the field. After every quake, Daisy remained alert, ready to absorb everything before it could create any last damage.

When a SHIELD issued jet landed behind them, Daisy didn't think anything of it. Davis had left earlier with a couple agents that morning to bring Mike Peterson to the Lighthouse, the latter offering his help when his sister disintegrated. When no one immediately join them, she figured they wanted to watch Elena's progress from a distance. Eager to catch up with Mike and his son, Ace, she decided to wrap up their training for the day. "Let's do it one more time and then we can head in!" She called, watching as Elena nodded before moving to her starting position. Moving into position, she rested her hand on the grass. "Ready?" She asked, Piper.

Piper started the clock. "Now!"

The earth immediately started shaking and Elena was off.

Daisy watched as Elena managed to hit seven targets before she began absorbing the shock. Pushing herself off the ground, she flew into the air and released the shock before falling back to the ground, landing on her feet.

"She's getting better," Piper said.

Daisy nodded.

"That was impressive."

The pair immediately turned to the unfamiliar male voice, both surprised to find the Avengers standing there.

"Oh, uh-th-thank you," Daisy said, tripping over her words when she realized that the words came from Thor. Her eyes traveled around the group, momentarily meeting Steve's gaze before forcing her eyes elsewhere.

"Sorry to just drop in on you, but we have it on good authority that Phil Coulson is still alive and in charge," Bruce Banner said, stepping forward.

Daisy immediately shook her head in a negative. "I'm sorry, but Coulson isn't…" She trailed off, unsure of how to finish her statement.

The lone female Avenger stepped forward. "There's no point in lying to us, we know that Coulson is alive. I don't know why he felt it necessary to let us believe he was dead, but I'm sure that if you tell him we're here he'll agree to see us."

"You misunderstand us," Piper immediately denied. "Yes, Coulson is alive, but he's…"

"He's in a medically induced coma," Daisy finished quietly, waiting for them to process her words. By then Elena had joined them, remaining silent as she did so. "These are Agents Piper and Rodriquez," she introduced, pointing out each woman. "And I'm Agent Johnson." She turned to Elena. "Can you run ahead and let Mack know we have company?"

Elena nodded. "Already done, I sent him a text before I joined you," she said quietly before turning to the visitors and speaking louder. "If you guys would like to follow me, I'll take you to meet the director." Taking the lead, she made her way inside.

Having decided to wait to round out the group, Daisy watched when Piper sidled up next to Thor, her eyes still wide with disbelief. Out of the corner her eye, she noticed Steve shuffle his feet, not bothering to walk on with his team. It wasn't until Clint Barton, the last person, was a few feet ahead of her before she looked at Steve again, gesturing for him to go first.

"So, Agent Johnson, huh?" Steve said quietly, so as not to gather the attention of the others. Upon departing from Daisy that morning at the hotel, he returned home and spent the remainder of the day lost in his thoughts. By the time he regrouped with the team, he was back to business, not bothering to mention that night. If anyone was curious about his brief disappearance, no one said anything.

"Guilty," she admitted with a small smile.

He returned the gesture with one of his own.

"I didn't go there looking for you," she said after a moment. "But when I saw you at the bar looking worse for wear," she sighed. "Well…" Daisy shrugged, not finishing her statement.

"It wasn't until I was already home when I realized you mentioned Fury by name with a sense of familiarity," he admitted after a moment. "I guess now I know why."

"I'm sorry if any of my words offended you that morning," she apologized quietly, turning to look at him.

He nodded once. "You were right," Steve told her in an equally soft voice. "I may not have wanted to listen to you then, but you had a point." Honestly, if he hadn't been feeling so horrible that morning, he probably would have argued against her observation.

No further words were spoken between the pair as the group made their way inside the base and into a conference room. Mack and Jemma were already waiting for them in a large conference room. Daisy, rounding out the group, closed the door behind her. She waited as Steve joined Tony Stark, Clint, Bruce, Natasha and Thor and an unfamiliar black man. Once everyone else was seated, Daisy claimed the vacant seat to Mack's right.

"I'm director Mackenzie," Mack began. "You've met Agents Piper and Rodriquez. This is Deputy Director Simmons and Deputy Director Johnson," he introduced.

"Two deputies?" Clint asked, unable to contain his curiosity. Fury would have never done such a thing.

Mack nodded. "Deputy Director Simmons helps take care of things on the home front while Deputy Director Johnson is in charge of any field ops and training," he explained. "I believe I speak for my entire team when I say that we're familiar with just about everyone here, except for you," he said, turning his attention to the black man sitting to Tony's left.

"James Rhodes or War Machine, but I usually go by Rhodey," the man replied, nodding towards the agents.

Mack returned the gesture before turning to face Steve Rogers. Once upon a time, Captain America served as co-leader with Tony Stark and he went on with the same line of thought. "What can we do for you?"

Steve cleared his throat. "We would like to open a line of direct communication with you, SHIELD. We recently fought a mad Titan."

Mack nodded. "Thanos," he supplied the name. "We're aware." Upon revealing the knowledge, several Avengers responded with narrowed glances, but no one immediately said anything about it.

"We…lost," Steve admitted, "and with that loss, most of our associates disintegrated."

"When we returned to the states, we saw what happened in Chicago and when we realized that Coulson and SHIELD were still very active, we decided to seek you out," Natasha chimed in. "We were hoping to have a sit down with Phil, but your agents explained that he is in a medically induced coma?"

Mack nodded.

"We can no longer afford to remain completely separate entities," Steve tacked on. "None of you know us the way Agent Coulson did, but we're hoping that you would at least consider keeping an open line between us."

"What exactly is it that you're looking for?" Mack asked, knowing that while the Avengers may have sought them out, they would never agree to be placed in the same position they'd formerly been in where SHIELD was concerned.

"We need all the help we can get," Tony said, speaking for the first time. "We thought there may be an opportunity for the two of us to come together, share resources, work as a team," he made sure to stress the last word.

Mack cast a quick glance from one Deputy Director to the other and when neither woman appeared to have any reservations, he nodded at Tony. "I believe we can do that," he admitted. "However, we do have a pressing matter that we've been working on that needs to be taken care of." He wanted to make sure he declared that information so that the Avengers were aware of just how important it was to them. "A team member of ours is out in space and we need to bring him home. He's an engineer and other than Deputy Director Simmons, the smartest person on our team, probably in this room. You want SHIELD's help and we're prepared to step up in whatever way we need to but retrieving him comes first." He waited, watching as Steve and Tony exchanged a significant look.

"Understood," Steve vocalized. "Is there anything you need on our end, Director Mackenzie?"

Mack looked at each visitor before settling his gaze on the Asgardian. "Actually, we could use your knowledge," he admitted, before looking back from one leader to another. "If you witnessed the events in Chicago then you saw the space ship." He waited for their acknowledgement before continuing. "The president entrusted it to us, we've been attempting to repair it for space travel. I'm a good mechanic, but I'm out of my depths on this," he admitted.

"We could also use a crash course in alien languages so that we can read the control panel," Daisy added.

"Which brings us to story time because we have a few questions," Tony said then. When he felt Natasha dig her elbow into his side, he exhaled a dramatic sigh. "And I'm sure you have a few as well," he tacked on.

"Of course," Mack acknowledged.

Clint leaned forward in his seat then. "Before we begin, I just have to ask. Coulson?" He'd been looking forward to reuniting with his former handler and had been completely thrown when Agent Johnson said he'd been placed in a coma.

"Deputy Director Johnson can take over from here. She and Jemma were part of the original group. It may be easier to wait until she's finished before you guys ask any questions," Mack answered.

Daisy, who'd been content to remain silent, startled when she realized she'd been put on the spot. Quickly gathering her thoughts, she leaned forward, resting her arms on the table, she laced her fingers together. "Some time during the 1990's, SHIELD dealt with Kree aliens, which granted them access to Kree blood, and even though the vessel was dead, he was hooked up to a machine that kept the body preserved. Using that blood, SHIELD derived a serum that was designed to bring someone back from the brink of death and even death itself. They called it GH-325, after the building that housed the deceased Kree. The idea worked…in theory," she allowed. "However, latent side effects made it very clear that it was more harmful than helpful, and the idea was shelved. Fury never intended for it to be used unless absolutely necessary, such as the death of an Avenger. When Coulson died before the battle of New York, Fury had SHIELD scientists administer it to Coulson and he was brought back from death. However, there were a few memory modifications done as well. Coulson was told that he did die, but only for a few minutes. He had no idea just how serious the situation was, and he had no memory of any of it happening."

"I'm sorry," Bruce interrupted. "I know you said no interruptions, but I don't understand how this Kree blood is able to do such a thing," his mind had been grasping for some understanding as to how such a thing was possible.

"The Kree are a humanoid race and resemble the human race with the notable exception of their blue skin," Jemma explained.

Thor nodded. "They have advanced strength and are able to adapt to various environments. They also have potent regenerative capabilities. And though they do resemble humans; their biology isn't as simple as a humans, so while a serum can be derived from their blood, they could never use it on one of their own," he tacked on, helping explain things.

"Like Asgardians, they are able to live thousands of years. We've heard the Kree describe it as blood of the eternals," Daisy tacked on. "A year and a half ago, we dealt with a robot that was, well, she was unstoppable. In an attempt to take her down, Coulson made a deal with an associate of sorts in order to gain the ability to bring her down. However, we didn't know that as part of the deal, the GH-325 that made it possible for Coulson to return from death was severed. He's been dying ever since. After the events of Chicago, he wanted to step away and spend the last of his time on his own terms."

Natasha took a closer look at the Deputy Director. Coulson had wanted to go off and what? Die on his own? But then, that couldn't be the case if he was in a medically induced coma. "But you didn't do that," she surmised.

"No," Daisy replied, meeting the other woman's gaze steadily, refusing to feel guilty for her decision. If all went well and they were able to find something to heal him, he could live the rest of his angry with her, but at least he'd be alive. "Agent Melinda May and I devised a plan that would hopefully buy us enough time to come up with an alternative. Yes, he's in a medically induced coma, but he, as well as May, are hooked up to computer simulated world." Inspired by Ada's version, though on a much small scale, minus Hydra, she'd attempted to give him a nice world to immerse himself in.

Tony arched an eyebrow. A computer simulated world? How did they come up with that idea? Who wrote the program?

Natasha pursed her lips and nodded once in acceptance. "Where does he think he is?"

"Tahiti. When he was being brought back from death, along with parts of his memory being taken away, he had been given false memories of spending time there. And his desire was to actually go there."

"So, he has no idea?" Clint asked.

Daisy shook her head in negative. "He doesn't, no. But May knows the truth. I know that more than likely, Coulson is going to be angry when he realizes the truth, realizes that the decision was taken away from him…again… but I'll gladly accept that anger if it means he has a chance to live."

"You mentioned earlier that you were aware of Thanos," Bruce said when the room fell into silence. "How? And if you knew, why didn't you offer any assistance?"

When no one on her team offered to speak up, Daisy realized she was still the elected official to speak. However, she also knew that it would be a longer explanation that contained a lot of facts. Casting a look at Mack, for permission to speak with complete candor, she waited for a nod of approval before she spoke again. "That's a story within a story, within a couple stories," she told them.

"We've got time," Clint said in response.

Daisy nodded at him. "Before I was affiliated with SHIELD, I was a member of Rising Tide." Only Natasha and Tony appeared to understand the significance of the name. "It's a hacking group," she tacked on for the others. "And I was on a one-man mission to expose all of SHIELD's secrets."

Tony looked her over then, she seemed so young, but she obviously knew what she was doing. She must have been the one to create the computer simulated world she spoke of. It was impressive…until he realized what she'd said last. "Huh, so you're one of those," he arched an eyebrow at her.

"One of what?"

"Those entitled Millennials. You know, one of the ones that think the world owes them something, simply for existing. Like the ones that insist they know everything and get all bent out of shape when authority figures try to be in control…"

"I'm afraid it was bit more personal for me," she said then. "Long story short, I grew up in an orphanage. I had no knowledge of my biological parents, nothing to work off. After a couple of years searching for information; I only found one document, though I suppose 'document' isn't the correct word. It was one page, a single redacted SHIELD page. I started taking advanced computer classes and when that wasn't enough, I started surrounding myself with hackers and I learned from them."

"SHIELD was alerted to her because she was attempting to hack them directly," Jemma added.

Daisy spoke about her first interaction with Coulson's team and his decision to bring her on as a consultant and agreement to look into her past before assigning her to the specialist on the team for training. She mentioned a couple of their earliest cases, with Jemma periodically chiming in as well. Daisy shared the story of Franklin Hall and gravitonium while Jemma provided the scientific facts, putting things into perspective for the Avengers. "And it remained at the Fridge until Hydra liberated everyone and whatever items they wanted, the gravitonium included."

"It was years before we had to deal with gravitonium again," Jemma said, letting them know that they'd be coming back to it.

"An ongoing situation we faced those first few months was with someone claiming to be 'The Clairvoyant,'" Daisy said, moving the conversation along. "Coulson was kidnapped by The Clairvoyant's people, they were trying to discover how it was that Coulson survived New York. We managed to save him before they could learn anything, but that was when Coulson discovered the truth about what happened to him. He contacted Fury, learned about the GH-325 and that those memories of Tahiti had been planted. It was then that he started looking into the serum, though no one else on the team knew about it. He'd also been looking into my file, surprise, it's an 0-8-4," she said with false cheeriness, attempting to ignore the pitiful expressions on Natasha and Clint's faces.

"While we were tracking down a person of interest in one of our cases, Daisy was shot twice at close range," Jemma took over again.

Upon hearing the words come from the English woman's mouth, Steve's gaze fell on Agent Johnson…no, Daisy. Instead of looking at any of them, her attention was on the table. Daisy, like the flower. Such a simple name, pretty, but simple. How could he have forgotten it?

"We managed to get her to a SHIELD hospital, mind you, this was all prior to Hydra. They…there was nothing they could do, it was then that Coulson went looking for the GH-325. He managed to save a single dose before the building was blown up and it brought her back from the brink of death."

"After dealing with Hydra's 'coming into the light' crap, Fury stepped away from SHIELD, passing the mantle of director to Coulson," Daisy spoke once again.

"Maria Hill has been an employee of Stark Industries since she left SHIELD," Tony said. "How could she have hidden this from us all this time?"

"To be fair, she may not have known," Jemma answered. "She assisted us on a mission once, I believe it was after the events that occurred at the Triskellion," she said, attempting to give them a timeline. "She was very firm when she spoke to Coulson about SHIELD's falling and not reassembling."

"Once the dust settled from all of that, Coulson began to incessantly carve a specific design. He carved on any and every available surface and it was always the same thing. It was a side effect of the GH-325."

"You mentioned latent side effects," Bruce recalled. "So, at that time, you weren't affected by them because not enough time passed?"

"Yes and no," Daisy shrugged. "I never had that desire to carve, but it was for a very different reason. Coulson looked further into the GH-325 and learned about the trial run and his involvement in it. It was one of the memories that was stripped from him."

Jemma nodded. "We managed to track down those surviving test subjects and discovered that the carving was a map of an ancient alien city."

"And then we found out that Hydra was also after the city," Mack spoke for the first time since Daisy started the story. "It was a race to see who could get there first, but it ended up being a tie."

"I ended up getting trapped in a room with a teammate and one of Hydra's associates. There was an alien artefact in there that was activated releasing a crystal which then exploded, releasing a mist. Hydra's associate and I were cocooned in a thin layer of stone. By the time we emerged from it, my team mate was dead and there was an earthquake bringing everything down on top of us. It was later I realized that I had been the one triggering the earthquakes."

"Daisy is an Inhuman," Jemma said then. "The Kree visited Earth thousands of years ago. They genetically modified a group of humans, giving them various abilities. Those individuals went on to have children and that gene was transferred to every new generation. The gene itself is dormant unless triggered by a terrigen crystal."

"After we dealt with the robot-"

"Why do I get the feeling that you skipped something?" Clint asked, interrupting her.

"Because I have, a couple of things actually," Daisy admitted simply. "But it has no bearing on our conversation right now. After we dealt with the robot, we went to a diner to treat ourselves," Daisy said, moving the story along. "I know it isn't fancy, but we figured it was only a matter of time before the government came looking for us and we at least wanted one last meal. While we were in the diner, we were abducted by an alien-" She was stopped by a snort of amusement.

"You realize how this sounds, don't you?" Tony asked.

"You fought a giant purple guy and that's where you drawn the line between fact and fiction?" Piper asked.

"His name was Noah, he was a Chronicon," Daisy said before anyone could respond to Piper's words.

"I thought they mostly observed?" Thor interrupted then.

Jemma nodded.

"He discovered an extinction level event was going to occur and stepped in. We were sent seventy something years into the future," Daisy finished. "There's an Inhuman with the ability to see…the past, present and future and it was through her that he made his discovery."

"That is…"

"Hard to believe," Mack finished for Natasha. He nodded. "Yes, we felt the same way when we discovered where and when we were."

"There's a group called the Confederacy, they are compromised of various alien races, beings that didn't fit in with their own kind."

"The Confederacy?" Thor parroted. "But they're…harmless."

"They may have started off that way, but they aren't in the future," Jemma denied.

Steve looked to his teammate. "You've met them?"

"Once," the Asgardian admitted. "They are as Lady Daisy said, misfits of their own societies."

"The Kree make up a significant portion of the Confederacy," Daisy tacked on. "When we arrived in the future, we learned that Earth was destroyed, cracked in half and the remaining humans were living here, only the Lighthouse was in space. Sometime between Earth being shattered and our arrival, the Confederacy stepped in to help them. However, instead of helping those humans, they took control, turning humans into slaves while the Kree remained in charge. They began dosing the food so that the only way children were conceived was through scientific methods. Inhumans were engineered and forced to fight in arenas, gladiator style. The winners would then be auctioned off to the highest bidder."

"We found a way to liberate the humans, helping them regain control of the Lighthouse and then we were able to return to our time where we've been working to change that outcome," Mack explained.

"How was the planet destroyed? Was it Thanos?" Steve asked, looking from Mack towards Daisy, watching as they both shook their heads in negative. "Then how-"

"News footage was captured and kept aboard the Lighthouse. Everyone thought it was me, that I responsible." When every single Avenger began giving her an appraising look, she fidgeted in her seat. "It wasn't," she tacked on petulantly.

"Upon our return, we discovered the government issued wanted posters of us," Mack said, moving the conversation along.

"But it wasn't so much the government as it was one Army General, that ended up being the newest head of Hydra," Jemma insisted.

"After the events in New York, Hydra managed to get their hands on a communication device and they began interacting with the Confederacy," Yo-Yo chimed in for the first time since sitting down. "General Hale reached out to Coulson, wanting to broker a deal. She…didn't like the idea that her predecessors had invited a group of aliens to Earth."

Daisy nodded. "She willingly gave over the gravitonium, wanting me to infuse myself with it and then fight off the Confederacy. It was then that we realized that it was my powers strengthened by the gravitonium that cracked open the world. Coulson refused, and she ended up turning on us. While we were dealing with all of this, we were also trying to find a way to heal Coulson. We referred back to something we dealt with years ago called the Centipede Project, super soldier serum. A friend of Mack's ended up locating one last dose. Using that and the DNA of an Inhuman with the ability of longevity and youth rejuvenation, Jemma created a serum for Coulson."

"Through the years we've had a love/hate relationship with the US Government and an Army General named Glen Talbot."

Rhodey nodded then, recognizing the name. "He's a good a man."

Daisy nodded. "He was, yes."

"Was?" He repeated.

"During the months that we were in the future, Hydra managed to get their hands on him," Daisy said softly. "He'd been recovering from a gunshot wound to the head and his already precarious situation was made worse when Hydra put him under a behavioral conditioning. He ended up turning on us. Coulson managed to subdue him and when he realized what he'd done and how powerless he was to stop it, he…"

"He infused himself with Gravitonium," Jemma spoke up. "And it drove him insane."

Daisy thought back to her time on Quovas' ship. "The Confederacy mentioned Thanos and his intent to come to Earth and Talbot was convinced that he needed to help you all, but that he needed more gravitonium first. He discovered some deep underground in Chicago."

"Chicago," Natasha said, thinking about the fight. "Where you had your showdown…."

Daisy nodded. "What we didn't realize was that Coulson never took that serum. Instead, he hid it in my gauntlets and when Talbot tried to kill me, using the gravitonium, I discovered it. I injected myself with it, which enhanced my abilities and I was able to beat him."

"So…when you went into the future, there had been no serum?" Banner asked, attempting to put the pieces together.

"We can't say for certain," Mack said. "But we think that in that timeline, there was a serum and Coulson did inject himself with it, so when Daisy confronted Talbot, she wasn't strong enough to overcome him. He managed to gain her ability, but not her knowledge of how to control it and he broke apart the world."

"And this team member in space?" Clint asked.

However, before anyone could answer, there was a knock on the door. Daisy looked up to find Davis. Tuning him out, she focused on the forms behind him and began beaming when she spotted Mike and Ace Peterson. "Mack," she said quietly. "Would you mind if I excused myself and helped them?" It had been years since she'd last seen Ace Peterson in person and was eager to reunite with him.

"Sure," he replied.

Daisy excused herself from the table and began walking towards the father son duo.

"Skye!" Ace exclaimed.

"She goes by Daisy now," Mike reminded his son. "I told you that."

Daisy shook her head. "You can call me whatever you want," she told the boy, though she supposed he was more of a young man more than boy. "Wow, look at you, you've grown so much!" She said, gathering him in her arms. "Hi, Mike."

Mike Peterson smiled at her.

Ace returned the hug, but when he noticed the group gathered in the room he gasped. "Woah. Are those the Avengers?"

Daisy nodded and pulled away from him. "Maybe you can meet them later?" She suggested...if they would still be in the facility.

Ace nodded. "Are you going to save the world?" He asked. "And bring all those people back?"

Being careful with her words, Daisy nodded once. "We're gonna try," she admitted. "I'm so glad you're here. I need your help with something," she changed the subject.

"Okay."

"Do you remember when your dad was taken and before you went to live with your aunt that you stayed with us for a while?"

Ace nodded.

"Well, we have a girl here whose mom disappeared with all those people, so she's been staying with us. And I need your help with her."

The younger Peterson frowned then. "You want me to babysit her?" He asked, the distaste apparent in his voice.

"Not babysit," Daisy denied easily. "But she's surrounded by a bunch of adults and you know how unfun that can be. I need you to be her friend."

"Okay…" Ace said, not thrilled with the idea at all.

She smiled at him. "I was going to bring you two topside tonight and do s'mores," she started, narrowing her gaze on him. "But I can see you're too cool to do that. It's okay, I'll find someone else."

"Ace, if you don't want to help and do s'mores, I'll gladly volunteer my services," Mike said.

Ace rolled his eyes. "I never said I wouldn't do it," he reminded both of them.

"That's the spirit," Daisy said brightly. "Come on, I'll show you to your rooms." She kept pace with Mike as they began walking through the corridors.

"So, the Avengers, huh?" Mike asked after a moment. "It's bad isn't it?"

Daisy nodded. "I assume so," she said softly. "We were in the middle of what Tony Stark called 'story time.' I left before we could hear their side of things, but…the fact that they reached out to us…" It didn't bode well for any of them.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3  
Disclaimer: I don't own anything familiar to Marvel.

Standing at the director's office, Daisy leaned against the doorframe and knocked on it to gather Mack's attention.

Looking up from the file that previously held his attention, he smiled at her. "Hey, come on in." Making one last note, he closed the file.

Claiming a seat on the opposite side of the desk, Daisy waited for him to finish before speaking. When he gave her his attention, she cleared her throat. "Mike and Ace are settled," she said.

"Any issues?"

"Only when I asked Ace to help out with Robin," she sighed before a smile crept up on her face. "I can't believe I forgot how cool kids tried to act when they were that age." After all the kids she'd been around…

"Not everyone had to pretend to be cool," Mack replied. "Just look at me."

"Oh, you mean because you're the super cool agent turned director?" She asked with a teasing lilt to her tone.

"I've always been super cool," he shot back, his voice taking on the same tone.

"Oh, my bad. Forgive me for thinking otherwise, Mack Hammer." She pursed her lips in amusement when he had the grace to blush. "You know, I didn't have the time that day to truly appreciate it, but it never gets old. Just the thought of you in a pair of parachute pants getting down to-"

"You're never gonna let that go, are you?"

"Nope," she said, popping the 'p.' She began humming the tune 'Can't Touch This,' all the while watching as Mack shook his head, refusing to meet her gaze.

"You can stop anytime now," he pointed out, wearing a small smile around his lips to soften words.

She stopped humming immediately. "I know, I know. I can't touch this," she snarked back, giggling when he threw his head back and groaned in annoyance. Her amusement faded slightly. "In all seriousness though, how did the meeting go after I left?"

He nodded. "They told us their side of the story, starting a couple years ago with the Sokovia Accords."

She nodded, thinking back to that period in her life. At the time, they were focusing on Hive, before her downward spiral because of his mind control. They'd been so busy between dealing with the changing Inhumans and the ATCU, but the fracture amongst the Avengers had been prime news. "So, it's true then?" She asked. "They really did part ways?"

He nodded. "Stayed that way up through Thanos' arrival."

"Yeah, well, there's nothing like fighting an evil titan to put things in perspective," she shot back.

"Aside from the Wakandans that survived the snap, they have two associates back at Stark Tower that could prove to be very helpful with the ship. They plan on leaving tomorrow to retrieve them."

Why hadn't they just brought these people in the first place? Daisy frowned. If they were all supposed to be working as one team, wouldn't it have made sense for them to join the Avengers on this trip?

Easily discerning the confusion on her face, Mack decided to answer her unspoken question. "One of them is a talking racoon and the other has a robotic appearance, neither would blend into the world."

"Another robot?" She asked, thinking back on Ada.

"Robotic appearance," he clarified. "She is actually one of Thanos' children that's been attempting to take him down for months. When they were growing up, he pitted them against each other and every time she lost at something, he replaced a body part with a robotic one."

Daisy had begun frowning as soon as he mentioned the fact that Thanos pitted his children against each other. Poor thing… "Wait, is that even physiologically possible?"

"Must be," he shrugged. "You know how America is a baby compared to the rest of the countries?" He asked, waiting for her to acknowledge his question. "Well, that is mankind compared to the rest of the civilizations in the universe. Anyway, because they can't go out in the general public, Thor is pretty sure that they'll jump at the chance to get away from the city and into a…form of seclusion where they can freely move around."

"Okay…"

"There's a chance they'll be on the ship when we retrieve Fitz. Or, at least, that's the plan as of today." He paused, giving her an opportunity to ask questions before he continued on. "They spoke about their separate fights against Thanos." He went on to repeat the story that the Avengers had told the remaining members of the room.

"How awful," Daisy said as Mack finished his story. "Honestly, Mack, how do we come back from something like this?"

He shook his head in negative. "Do you remember when Jemma was transported through the monolith?"

She nodded. "I don't think I'll ever forget that time."

"Do you remember Fitz mentioning the Quantam Realm?"

"I do," she said, "but…" Daisy shook her head in negative. He'd tried to explain it to her, but she didn't understand everything he'd said. "I also remember reading Peggy Carter's notes about it, but again, a lot of it went over my head. Is that their big plan?"

"It was mentioned, but nothing concrete. Until we get Fitz back, I think it'll stay that way."

She shook her head. "We'd be better off joining forces, pooling our resources and creating a time machine." Time machine or Quantam Realm, either way they'd have their work cut out for them.

* * *

True to her word, that night Daisy took Robin and Ace top-side for s'mores. However, what started out being planned for just the three of them quickly grew to include agents as well as the Avengers, having taken Mack up on his offer to stay the night. Extra fixings were added as well as alcohol and it was large group that settled around the fire she'd started. When Clint began bragging about being the best s'more maker, he started giving the youngest occupants of the base a lesson.

Looking around the area, Daisy noticed the way new groups had formed among the Avengers and SHIELD agents, and quickly realized then that Steve was missing. Her eyes traveled around the surrounding area, falling on the porch of the lighthouse and she noticed a dark shadow. Figuring it was Steve and knowing that she wouldn't be missed for the next several minutes, she decided to join him. Grabbing two sodas, she made her way in his direction. "Here you go," she said as she settled down next to him.

He nodded in appreciation and opened it. "Thanks," he said after swallowing a big gulp. "So…super soldier serum…" he trailed off.

"Yup," she said, enhancing the 'p' sound. "From what I understand, scientists have been trying to recreate it since you. The uh…the Centipede program is the closest they've come to perfecting it."

"The version you were able to get your hands on…had it ever been used before?"

"Once, it was a SHIELD agent, John Garret, that ended up being Hydra. Come to find out, he ended up being the face behind the Clairvoyant I mentioned earlier."

"And the DNA from the Inhuman you mentioned?"

"Was part of it," she said. "It was my mother."

Her words were soft, but he heard them easily. "I'm sorry," he offered.

"By the time I met her she was…different, broken. During the war, after you crashed your plane, Hydra discovered the existence of Inhumans. She was found by a Hydra agent and she and her people were taken. Luckily, before she was harmed, she was saved by Peggy Carter and the Howling Commandos."

Peggy. He felt the familiar ache of loss, something he usually experienced every time he thought about his previous life and friends. "Small world," he remarked.

She nodded in agreement but didn't comment on it. "He was arrested and placed in prison, spent forty-seven years there. Hydra busted him out and he picked back up where he left off. A year after I was born, he discovered my mother was still alive and hadn't aged…" She sighed. "Needless to say, she wasn't so lucky that time around." Instead of going into specifics, she cleared her throat. "He used her DNA and created a serum that he used on himself, starting a new life as Daniel Whitehall. Cut to a few years ago, my SO ended up being Hydra. But before that was revealed we'd grown…close and even though I wiped my hands of him, his feelings for me hadn't changed. He ended up kidnapping me and when I met Whitehall he looked like a man in his forties. Garret knew that, so when he began using the Centipede serum to keep himself alive, he added the same cocktail that Whitehall had used."

"So, you used your mother's DNA in that last dose," Steve finished.

"It should have worked, I mean…on Coulson. It should have saved him," she said, her eyes welling with emotion.

There was no mistaking the guilt in her voice. "From what we heard earlier, you gave him the opportunity to use it and he chose not to. That decision saved the world."

She nodded. "I know, logically, I know that…but my heart just…can't grasp it. Coulson deserved…deserves more. He's already paid his dues. He already started his life over once. Instead of being in a computer simulated Tahiti he should have been in the real one…only on vacation, not something to cross off his bucket list."

"And you feel guilty because you took that serum instead…" He watched as her eyes fell on the large group surrounding the fire. She didn't say anything, but her silence spoke plenty. Her words hit home, a little too close for comfort so he changed the subject. "How are you finding the changes?"

"It's not fun. I mean it is to a point. Seeing how fast I am and how my powers have evolved is like…mind blowing, but then sometimes I forget myself and things get messy. Sparring has become a real challenge."

He didn't need to ask her to clarify, he had the same issues. Sparring against Clint, Natasha and Sam was different than sparring against Bucky, Thor and Tony, when the latter was suited up. "If you'd like, I can spar with you," he offered before he realized the words coming out of his mouth. "And Thor would be amendable as well."

"You think so?" She asked, perking up at the idea of being able to spar and not having to worry about holding herself back.

"I know so," he clarified. "He's been very interested since learning about the Kree DNA." Bruce had also been curious, but in a different way.

"I'd like that," she admitted. "I mean sparring against you guys would really help me out. Piper and I have been running tests, but I haven't been able to compare that particular aspect for obvious reasons."

When the conversation fell into a lull, Steve opted for a subject change. "So, is this what it's usually like around here?" When he saw the confusion on her face he continued. "I mean the camp fire, s'mores, music and what not?" A feeling of resentment had knotted in his chest since the fire started. He and his team had been risking their lives, he'd lost team members…friends and SHIELD was roasting marshmallows?

Her lips quirked up in amusement and she shook her head. "No," she replied, her smile turning sad. "Ever since we've been back it's been one situation after another." Clearing her throat, she looked at the aluminum can in her hands. "I assume they told you about Fitz?" she asked, referring to her earlier exit from the meeting.

"Yes."

"It's been an…adjustment," she said, "having to get used to the absences." She may not have mourned for Fitz after his actions against her, but he'd still been a core member of the group, was once a trusted friend. Between Fitz, Coulson and May…there was a big whole within the team. "It hadn't been an easy time. When Hunter arrived with Robin in tow without her mother, I decided to do what I could to give her 'normal.' Or as normal as we can, given our day to day lives."

Listening to her reasoning, the heaviness in his chest lifted. "I'm sorry," he apologized. "I'd just assumed…" he trailed off with a sigh, embarrassed to admit what he'd thought.

Daisy looked over at him. "That we were unfeeling robots?" She supplied simply, giving him a small smile to let him know she wasn't offended. "Maybe it is callous to try living normally when everything is still relatively fresh," she allowed. "But she's already been through so much in her life. I would hate for her to look back realize that on top of her childhood being robbed from her, she didn't have one simple memory that most kids do. At least this way, she has this small memory. It may not be a big one in the grand scheme of things, but I'm trying."

Thoroughly chastised, Steve scratched at the back of his neck. "I think I'm subconsciously looking for some place to channel my anger," he admitted.

"Understandable," she said simply.

Steve's eyes traveled to the group of people that sat around the fire, focusing on the young Inhuman that Mack explained. "That's a special little girl you guys have there."

She nodded. "For so long she saw nothing but visions of bad things to come. We were hoping that after we averted the end of the world that she'd have a little bit of normalcy, but then everyone started disappearing. She's drawing again and not for fun," she shook her head. "It's a good thing that you guys showed up. Maybe we'll be able to come up with a solution to everything?" Her gaze focused on Ace and Robin. "You know, you're more than welcome to join us once you finish brooding." She wasn't sure why she said it. She didn't know Steve from Adam and knew he would either react favorably or she would have a serious 'foot-in-mouth' situation. However, she felt a sense of comradery with the Avengers. Though she and her team had never fought side by side with them, they were still brothers in arms. They'd all seen and faced their share of badness.

With a quirk of his lips, he shook his head at her. "It's been a difficult couple of days," he said, repeating what he'd said that morning in the hotel room.

She nodded. "It has," Daisy easily agreed. "I hope my next words won't offend you."

He couldn't help but arch his eyebrows in response. "You know, people only say that when they are about to say something incredibly nosy," he pointed out.

The brunette nodded in response but didn't change her mind on speaking. "You still have people here for you. Be sad and mourn for the friends you lost, but don't forget the ones that are still here," she said, nodding towards the group gathered around the fire pit.

"I know that," he said quietly.

Daisy turned an appraising eye on him. "Do you?" She asked, unable to help herself. She'd seen how he interacted with his team, and other than the few times he'd shared a significant look with one of his teammates, he appeared to be pulling away from all of them. "Then why are you pulling away from them?"

"I'm not."

"You are," she argued simply. "And I'm not just talking about the meeting. I mean since then I've seen your interactions with your friends and you're…closed off and quiet. This hardly the best time to-"

"Because what happened was my fault," he said then. He didn't mean to say the words, but once they were out, he couldn't stop himself. "I was part of the last line of defense. If only I could have…held out longer, been a stronger opponent. Maybe then Wanda wouldn't have felt the need to leave Vision's side to help us and the stone could have been destroyed? Maybe I could have tried harder against Thanos? Maybe I should have incapacitated him in some way, buying time for Thor to reach us and stop him?"

"Or, maybe Michael Jackson could have beamed down to the battlefield singing 'Billie Jean' and Moonwalking," Daisy inserted before he could say anything else. She watched as the wind was knocked out of the sails and he hesitated. "Please tell me you know who Michael Jackson is."

His brows furrowed together, but he nodded. "I do, but why did you toss that out there?"

"I didn't like your 'what-ifs' so I added my own," she shrugged. When he continued to frown in confusion she sighed. "What happened isn't your fault. You said it yourself, you were the last line of defense. What about those that encountered him before you? If they had been faster or stronger then you wouldn't have been needed as the last line. The truth is, you all failed."

Steve snorted humorlessly. "You really know how to stroke someone's ego."

Daisy rolled her eyes. "The point is, you don't hold it against them and they don't hold it against you."

Steve's mind instantly flashed back to the Battle of New York and the parting words he'd shared with Tony.

" _And what if we lose?"_

" _Then we'll do that as a team too."_

"This why you shared that little story?" Steve asked then.

"In part," she admitted. "Sometimes it's easier to talk to someone that isn't so close to the situation," she shrugged. "I see you're past the drowning your sorrows phase, but this whole…separating yourself thing isn't any better." She took the opportunity to look around the porch. "I can see how this could be appealing," Daisy said when her companion remained quiet. "I mean sitting here in the dark on a chilly spring night is so much better than sitting near a warm fire, toasting marshmallows and eating s'mores…" She fell into silence then.

"I've never had one," he said after a pregnant pause.

"One wh- A s'more? Ever?"

"It wasn't like they were around before I went into the ice," he reminded her. There'd been something similar, but not the present-day version…or if it was around back then, it wasn't a nationwide thing.

Okay, that made sense. But he'd been awake for years now. "Still? In the time since then? Never?"

"Didn't sound appealing, I guess."

Daisy shook her head and stood up. "Let's go." When he didn't move, she repeated herself. "Stand up, let's go."

"Go where?"

"We're gonna pop your cherry," she said, paying no mind to the words as she used her head to nod at the fire.

She was…what? He felt the heat of embarrassment spread across his cheeks and in effort to shield his reaction to her words he rubbed the back of his neck.

When he didn't move, her attention fell on him. "Heard that before, huh?" She asked quietly, realizing she'd just embarrassed him.

He nodded. "Yeah, I think the idea of associating the word 'cherry' to virginity was born before I was."

"Huh…" She said. For whatever reason, she'd assumed the adage was coined sometime during the 1950's or 1960's. She locked away the fact he'd just told her. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to embarrass you, it's just an expression that people use if someone does something for the first time."

"I gathered that," he replied dryly. "I don't need a s'more."

"You really do," she argued. "The fact that you're pushing a hundred and still haven't had one is a travesty."

He rolled his eyes upon hearing her dramatics. "You're kind of pushy."

She shrugged. "Think of it as retaliation for the way you treated me the night we met," she said sweetly. "Just…seven minutes, roast a marshmallow and eat a s'more and then…if you want, you can skulk back into the shadows and I will personally stop the next person that tries to disturb you."

He considered just staying where he was, but he didn't think his companion would give up so easily. "You aren't going to let this go, are you?" He asked, staring at her.

"No."

"Fine," he grunted, standing up. "Seven minutes."

Daisy easily matched his pace. "You know, I bet if you asked Clint nicely, he'd roast your marshmallow." She said before mentally playing back her words and wincing upon hearing the completely accidental inuendo. "I mean for you…to…and I mean like…a…a real marshmallow, not…not like a word that could be construed as anything-"

"I got it," he said, raising his voice just enough to talk over her, hoping to stop her before she made any other references or comparisons.

"Wow, talk about foot in mouth," she muttered.

He nodded. "Twice…in the span of five minutes," he tacked on. "You going for a record?"

Daisy pursed her lips and looked at her companion. "I lied before, I'm not really going to play body guard."

He nodded, offering her a smile. "I know."


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

(Five years later)

Approaching their room, Steve Rogers eyed his girlfriend with a frown for a moment before stepping past the threshold. "Move over," he said softly, intending to join her.

Without opening her eyes, she scooted her body to one side of the bed. After he settled down, he stretched an arm out for her settle against. "Hmmm." She felt him curl his arm around her and grab her hand before he laced their fingers together. "Good workout?"

"Would have been better if you were my sparring partner," he said with a teasing lilt to his tone. "I heard Mack complaining about feeling like a walking-bruise."

It had been five years since Thanos used the powers of the infinity stones to wipe out half of the Universe. It had been five years since the Avengers reached out to SHIELD for help. It had been four years since time travel became more than just a theory, though they still hadn't managed a successful experiment. And it had been four years since Daisy and Steve crossed the threshold from friends to lovers, with neither looking back.

Exhaling sigh, she pouted. "I've been so tired lately. I don't know what's wrong with me." No, that wasn't exactly true. She had her suspicions, but she wasn't ready to voice it yet. Tilting her head back, she opened them for the first time since he'd joined her. "I promise, when I'm back to normal, you can spar with me all you want."

He nodded in response to her words before the pair fell into silence.

Breathing in his comforting scent, she sighed. "Tell me something that no one else knows."

Tilting his head, he eyed his girlfriend. "What?"

"Tell me something that no one else knows," she repeated. Other than the occasions where he spent time at Stark Tower, Steve was usually at the Lighthouse with her. And even though they'd been together for four years and kept such close quarters before they 'moved in' together, she knew she couldn't possibly know everything there was to know about the man.

He took a few moments to consider her question before finally answering. "After our defeat in Wakanda, I didn't think I'd ever be happy again." It had been a dark time for everyone, but they'd carried on. There was no conscious decision to move on, but like Geoffrey Chaucer said, 'time waits for no man.' There had been nothing to do but move on and attempt to find a solution.

"I think we all felt that way in one capacity or another," she replied. She knew because once upon a time, she couldn't fathom living in a world where Phil Coulson didn't exist.

He nodded. "I know, but after Vision's death, Bucky's disappearance and finding out that Sam suffered the same fate…" He paused to consider his words. "I was about ready to give up and then you welcomed us into the Lighthouse without so much as a grumble. Everyone was lost, and I had to step up and I figured I'd just be in a state of existing, but then you came into my life. You called me out on things, brought me back to life. You made me happier than I thought I could be."

Opening her eyes, she turned her head and placed a kiss on his neck. Even after four years of being together, he still said things that managed to surprise, flatter and embarrass her. "You make me happy too."

He squeezed their joined hands. "Okay…your turn."

She hesitated momentarily. "My turn?"

He nodded. "I told you my secret, now you have to tell me one." Surely, she didn't think that she'd be able to ask such a thing without it being turn on her…

"Something that no one else knows…" She trailed off, thinking over his request. "I never wanted to be a mom," she admitted quietly, forcing herself not to turn to Steve.

He honestly hadn't expected her to say something like that. His thumb began caressing the back of her hand. "What?" But he'd watched her interact with various children and she was always so good with them. "But I've watched you with Ace, Robin, Clint's kids…Elias. You're great with them."

She focused on the hair on his forearm, choosing not to respond to his observation. "I think it was after the fourth time of being sent back to the orphanage that I decided I didn't want to bring a child into this world in the off chance that something happened to me and they would be placed in that situation."

He couldn't imagine not wanting to be a parent. Maybe it was because of his situation, but we wanted children. "Even after you learned that SHIELD was behind all of that, you didn't change your mind?"

There may have been one thought, but seeing as she'd been single and young, she had no reason to even entertain the thought. "Having grown up without a steady parent or guardian, I guess I felt like I couldn't possibly know anything about raising a child, though the thought was fleeting," she tacked on. "I was single and nowhere close to finding myself in that situation so why think on it?"

She wondered if she was disappointing him. Despite the fact that they'd been together for four years, neither one ever broached the idea of marriage, let alone children. However, given everything that Steve had been through in his life, she was sure that he fell on the opposite end of the spectrum when it came to children.

"When I realized what the feeling of being unwanted was, I started reaching out to the kids in the orphanage that were younger than me. I wanted to make sure that they didn't have to experience the same sensation, or if they did, I wanted them to know they weren't alone and that someday it would get better." After being raised in an orphanage she supposed it was only natural that she learned how to deal with younger children, but that hadn't meant she wanted her own.

"And since we've been together?" He asked. It never crossed her mind? Not even once? It had certainly crossed his.

"I don't know," she licked her lips. "I guess I…I don't let my mind go there," she confessed after a moment.

Pulling his arm out from under her, Steve turned on his side so that he was facing her. He didn't say anything, but he could only assume that his facial features said enough by the way she responded to him.

She smiled sadly at him. "We started our relationship after tragic circumstances, and since then we've all been working on a way to go back and change things," Daisy reminded him softly. "What if what is changed is us?" She asked. "If you guys do actually go back in time and prevent Thanos' destruction, you and I won't get together." Before he could say anything, she spoke again. "Where are the questions coming from?"

"I don't think it would be a surprise to you to find out that I always wanted a family, at least two children." He'd grown up an only child, and it was lonely. He watched her giggle and he smiled back at her. "After joining SHIELD and the Avengers, I knew children wouldn't be a possibility at the time. And then I stepped away from the Avengers and things slowed down for a while, until Thanos, anyway. And during that time, I realized that it was something I wanted." He wanted a wife, children, a house…he wanted it all…someday. "It feels like most of us have put the last four years on hold and I don't want to do that anymore. I will still do what I can to find a solution, but I don't want to live half a life anymore."

"So…you're what? Feeling me out?"

He frowned. Is that what he was doing? "I guess?"

She arched her eyebrows at him.

"You've made me happier than I ever thought I could be after what Thanos did, but I want more. One day, I would like to get married and have children." Between their combined super soldier genes, any children they had would be amazing. If he closed his eyes long enough, he could see a little girl with hair just a shade darker than his and her mother's eyes.

"And if I never change my mind on children?"

"You said that since we've been together, you've never really allowed your mind to go there," he recalled. "Do you think you could do that? Imagine a life with me by your side with at least one child?" Though he wanted more, he would compromise if it meant she would be by his side.

"Is this your way of telling me you plan to marry me?" She asked with a teasing lilt to her voice. However, it was in effort to cover up her nervousness. The conversation had taken on a serious tone and she'd been completely unprepared to have it.

"Well, I don't plan on proposing tomorrow or anything. But it would be nice to know that we're on the same page. Can you promise me that you will at least think about it?"

"I can do that," she told him softly.

"Good." He kissed her temple. "Now stop being lazy and join the rest of us."

"But I don't want to," she whined dramatically, curling into his side. "Let's just stay like this for the rest of the day."

"As nice as that sounds, I need to work off some energy."

"Then by all means, work it off with me."

A chuckle rumbled through his chest. "Come on, sweet girl. Out of bed." However, if the offer was still on that table later that night…

Knowing there was no arguing with him, Daisy sat up, grumbling as she did so. Making her way to the restroom to freshen up, she closed the door behind her. Placing a hand on her flat stomach, she exhaled as she tried to fight back the nausea she felt. She didn't know anything for certain, but she suspected that the reason why she was so tired all of the time was because she was pregnant. She'd thought about having Jemma perform a test, but she didn't want to chance anything getting out before she was ready. Maybe taking a trip to town would be best?

* * *

It wasn't until the following day that she felt enough energy to leave the base. What turned into a quick trip to a pharmacy changed when Natasha opted to join her and pick up 'a few things' from the local grocer.

As soon as they parted ways in the grocery store, Daisy immediately made her way to the pharmacy. Of all the times she'd been in the store, she'd never had to visit that particular department. Ever since Chicago, she hadn't had even so much as had a cold so there had been no need for her to visit the pharmacy. When she stopped in front of the section of pregnancy tests, she nearly blanched. Why were there so many options? Didn't they all do the same exact thing? Picking up one test, she read the back of it before setting it down and grabbing another one before repeating the action multiple times. It wasn't until after she'd read every single test that she made a decision on one.

"There you are, I was wondering where you went off to," Natasha said, as she pulled the cart to a stop.

The brunette immediately tensed. Uh oh, busted… How long had she been reading the back of these boxes?

"Okay, so regular or barbeque?" The redhead held both bags of chips out to her companion, but as she looked at both bags, she shrugged. "Never mind. We'll get both." She looked at Daisy wondering why her friend was so quiet. "Is that a pregnancy test in your hand?" Her eyes trailed down the brunette's body with a critical eye. "You're pregnant?"

Daisy closed her eyes and breathed out through her nose. "Possibly," she said. Not possibly. The point of the test was to confirm her suspicions. "Probably."

"Oh!" Natasha gasped, thrilled for her friends. "Does Steve know?"

Daisy shook her head in negative. "I don't want to say anything until I know for sure."

"Why not just have Simmons do the test?"

"Because I didn't want to chance this getting out before I was ready."

Natasha grabbed Daisy's hand and began marching her towards the checkout lanes.

"What are you doing?" Daisy asked, attempting to keep up.

"Paying for this so you can take the test."

"But what about the rest of the stuff?" They weren't even finished shopping.

Natasha waved away the question. "It'll be there when we get done."

Daisy frowned at her companion. "Has anyone ever told you how pushy you are?"

Nat could only scoff. Of course, she was pushy. When she joined SHIELD, most operatives were men. She'd had to work twice as hard just to prove herself, and she didn't get to the top by being a pushover. "Oh, so you want to spend the entire time shopping, wondering if you're pregnant or not?"

While Daisy paid for the test, letting the checkout clerk know she would be taking the test as soon as she could, Nat returned for the cart and parked it outside the restroom. After giving Daisy what she assumed was adequate time to pee on the stick, she pushed her way in.

"I can't believe this is happening to me," Daisy said. "I never wanted to have kids."

"It could be worse, Daisy." Though it wasn't conventional in the way that Steve would have preferred, he would be thrilled with the idea of being a father. He would take care of Daisy and that kid without any reservations what-so-ever. "It could be a lot worse."

"What do I know about being a mother? I never even had a real guardian." Her own mother tried to kill her. "I can't possibly raise a child. I mean I live at a SHIELD base."

"Fitzsimmons made it work," Natasha replied quietly.

"Oh, well, yeah. Fitzsimmons…" She trailed off.

Instead of the little girl Fitzsimmons expected, that they all expected, a little prince had been born. Elias Phillip Fitz.

 _As soon as Fitz announced the baby's sex to the expectant group, multiple eyes turned on Deke Shaw, whom held his hands up. "Don't look at me, I'm just as confused as the rest of you."_

The sound of her alarm pulled Daisy from her thoughts. She turned it off, but otherwise refused to move.

"Well?" Natasha prompted. "Are you going to look?"

Daisy shook her head. "I…I can't."

Natasha instantly grabbed the stick. "It's negative."

Upon hearing the words, Daisy's head shot up. "Oh," she breathed, not expecting that. "I guess I've been worried over nothing." But if she wasn't pregnant, then why was she so tired all of the time? She wasn't pregnant? There wasn't a baby growing inside her?

"You okay?" Natasha asked, frowning. Given Daisy's questions and doubts, shouldn't she be jumping for joy?

"Oh, I'm fine," Daisy waived away. She wasn't pregnant. That was good, it wasn't like she needed a son or daughter with her hair and Steve's eyes. "I'm fine."

"You sure? Your voice is off-kilter."

"No, I just…I mean this good news." Why did she feel so bad?

Natasha raised her eyebrows. "Is it? Because it doesn't sound like it."

"I don't know why I'm reacting like this," Daisy said, shaking her head. "I mean I know next to nothing about raising babies." It had been a week since her suspicions started. Had she slowly started changing her mind on the subject without even realizing it?

"Well, I suspect that you have about six and a half to seven months to do all the reading that you can about the subject."

Daisy nearly choked. "What?"

"I lied," Natasha said flatly. "You're going to have a baby."

"I'm…?" She was pregnant? Her hands moved to her stomach. She looked at the redhead. Why would she do something like that? "Why would you do something like that?"

"Because you were so sure that you didn't want kids, but your reaction suggested otherwise."

"That was mean," Daisy said as tears welled in her eyes. "I'm going to be a mother. That's a scary thought."

Natasha smiled. "Steve's going to be thrilled." She could already see him as the doting father, doing everything in his power to make sure that the child was given the best opportunity. Fitzsimmons' son was spoiled by everyone. But the unborn child in Daisy's stomach was going to be the first Avenger baby in years and she knew he or she would be spoiled rotten, especially once Pepper found out.

Daisy nodded. He would make an excellent father; a much better parent than she was sure she would be.

After disposing the test, the pair returned to their shopping cart, though the last thing Daisy wanted to do was shop. A tiny person was growing inside her body. The idea was such a foreign concept that she still couldn't believe it. Could she really be a mom? As much time as she spent around Elias, Robin and Clint's kids, it was easy enough since she knew she could return them to their parents…or guardian in Robin's case. But she'd be in charge of raising a little person and raising him or her to be a functioning member of society. She may not have been as against children as she thought she was, but the idea of being a parent still scared the hell out of her.

"You have a preference?"

The question pulled her from her thoughts and Daisy looked at her friend. "Hmmm?"

"What do you want? A boy or a girl?" Natasha clarified.

She knew that most women wanted girls, but not her. She wanted a little boy, and she wanted to name him after Coulson. Since Jemma already gave her son 'Phillip' as a middle name, Daisy could work with 'Coulson.' Firstname Coulson Johnson… No, firstname Coulson Rogers. That sounded better. "A boy," she said, smiling for the first time since taking the test.

* * *

"There you are," Melinda May said as she ran into Daisy in the halls of the Lighthouse. "I've been looking for you."

"Oh?"

"Today was the third day that you've blown off morning training," the other woman reminded her former rookie. "That isn't like you, what's going on?"

"I haven't been feeling the best lately."

Though she didn't say anything, May immediately felt alarmed as her gaze turned critical. "You haven't been feeling well? You don't get sick."

"I know," Daisy mumbled.

May frowned in response. "What? You pregnant or something?"

She couldn't help it when her eyes widened in response. Was she so obvious?

Reading into Daisy's reaction, May's own eyes widened. "You're pregnant?" She asked in a whispered explanation.

"The pregnancy test I took said I was."

"Did Jemma give it to you?"

Daisy bit her bottom lip and shook her head in negative.

"Have you even talked to her?"

"I've been trying to work up the nerve," Daisy admitted sheepishly. "I know the test said I was and considering how I've been feeling, I feel like it. But talking to Jemma in a medical capacity makes it more real," she said, trying to explain her thoughts. When she received May's trade mark, a single arched eyebrow, she felt her cheeks heat in embarrassment. "I didn't say it made sense," she mumbled.

She hadn't seen Daisy so unsure of herself since she first received her powers. Taking pity on her, she uncrossed her arms. "Come on."

"Where are we going?"

"To talk to Simmons." It didn't matter that Jemma married Fitz twice over, she would always be affectionately called by her maiden name.

"There's no arguing with you on this, is there?"

"Nope," the older woman responded as she guided Daisy to the medical center. Even though there was a doctor that was on the base part time, Jemma still stepped in whenever necessary.

"Daisy, May," Jemma greeted as the pair stopped in front of her. "Is something wrong?" She asked as both women sought her out. She looked closely at the pair. Ever since Daisy had returned from grocery shopping, she'd been off. Not only had Daisy been quiet, but her face had been an extra shade of white; so pale that even Mack had commented on it as Daisy and Nat put the food away. The English woman frowned. "Steve mentioned that you've been feeling tired lately." Was the serum losing its effectiveness?

Though they were the only three in the medical ward, Daisy still did a double take around the area to make sure no one else happened upon them since she'd approached her best friend. "I'm pregnant."

Jemma shrieked and instantly embraced her friend. "How wonderful!"

Daisy returned the hug, unable to not smile over her friend's reaction.

"Wait," Jemma pulled away. "How do you know?"

"I took a test when we were out today. I've been so tired lately and I haven't felt that way since before taking the serum. And then when my period didn't come… You know that it has never regular, but then I started thinking…and yeah."

"No morning sickness?"

Daisy shrugged. "There's been a bit of nausea, but I haven't thrown up or anything."

Lucky bitch. Jemma couldn't help but remember how bad hers had been. Only it hadn't only be morning sickness, it was noon and night sickness as well. She'd lost so much weight the first three months of her pregnancy, Fitz had been truly scared for her and sworn off ever getting her pregnant…which of course put Deke in a tizzy. "If you have the time, I can hook up the ultrasound…"

"Yeah," Daisy said after some consideration. "I can do that." She cast a glance at May. "Can May stay?"

"If you'd like," Jemma replied. "As this has turned into a medical visit, it's your choice."

Without saying anything, Daisy turned to her former SO with an expectant expression on her face. When the seasoned SHIELD agent nodded once, Jemma smiled. She showed Daisy to a private room and prepared for the ultrasound.

* * *

"And that right there, is your baby," Jemma said, pointing to the screen as she ran the wand over Daisy's belly.

Squinting her eyes, Daisy tried to make out a shape, any shape, but her untrained eyes could only make out shadows.

"According to the size and the information you gave me, I'd say you are about seven weeks along," Jemma smiled gently before she announced Daisy's due date. She moved the machine back in place, she reached for the pictures she'd taken before turning back around.

"And everything is going to be okay?" Daisy asked, worrying her lip as she adjusted her clothes. "I mean the serum on both of our sides…"

"I'll keep a close eye on things," Jemma offered, "but I suspect everything is going to be fine." Daisy didn't suffer from the same debilitating nausea she had and the tiredness she spoke up was essentially nothing compared to what some women dealt with their first trimester. No, she suspected that Daisy's pregnancy would go more smoothly because of the serum.

"Jemma, do you think you could keep this out of my file?" Daisy asked. "It's just, I feel bad enough that May and Nat knew before Steve. And I know you wouldn't tell anyone else-

"I can't tell anyone else," Jemma reminded her friend gently.

"I know. But if it's in the file, anyone who had access to this office would be able to find out."

Jemma nodded. "I'll keep it out for now," she said. "However, I'm going to need something to refer back to when it comes to measurements," the scientist tacked on. "I suggest you tell him sooner rather than later."

May nodded along with the advice. Between training and sparring, Daisy wouldn't be able to keep it secret for long. If she continued to find excuses to get out of sparring, someone would catch on.

"I will, but I don't know how. I mean this is Steve Rogers, you know?" Daisy asked rhetorically. "Even though some of his ideals have changed in the last several years, I know that he'll feel bad for this happening out of order."

"Out of order or not, he's going to be so excited," May reminded the younger woman.

"So, have you thought about how you're going to tell him?" When she told Fitz, she'd ordered a specially made coffee cup so that when he finished his tea, the bottom of the mug told him he was going to be a father. Of course, he'd instantly dropped it upon registering the words, but it had been funny all the same.

Daisy shook her head in negative. "What am I supposed to do? Give him a card that says 'you + me = 3?'"

Jemma shrugged. "Why not?"

"Jemma!"

The sound of Fitz's voice ringing through the medical ward broke the moment and all three women adjusted themselves to look more casual

"Jemma! We did it!" He came rushing into the room, stopping short upon seeing the three of them. "Am I interrupting something?"

"Just girl talk," Jemma excused. As soon as the words were out of her mouth, Fitz swept her into his arms and spun around in circles.

"We did it. It works."

"What?"

"The time machine works!" He exclaimed. He went on to explain how the experiments worked and the help that Shuri had provided them.

Daisy stared dumbly at the embracing couple.

Just a few days earlier her biggest concern was potentially being pregnant. How much time had she stressed over it when in the end…it apparently didn't really matter?


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

(Author's note: I just wanted to state this now. I am not a comic book reader, and because I have no idea what to expect from Carol Danvers as a character, I did not include her in this. Also, I began writing this before I saw the trailer for Avengers: End Game, so I did not include Scott Lang in this either. We'll just pretend that he's stuck in the Quantum Realm without the Van Dynes there to get him out).

"How?" Jemma asked, completely shocked by the revelation.

"Basically, we worked off the idea that Einstein had about our universe having four dimensions; three dimensions of space and one of time."

Jemma recalled the topic. "You guys created a gravitational field that could bend space-time…"

Fitz shook his head in negative. "Someone was already attempting to create it. SHEILD got wind of it and hid it away."

In the Fridge? "Didn't Hydra liberate almost everything at the Fridge?" May asked then, remembering the attempted methodical takeover.

"It wasn't at the Fridge," Fitz replied. "Fury had the knowledge saved in the director's toolbox. Mack showed it to me, and we worked off the information that was already there." It sent their teams on a scavenger hunt of sorts, but eventually they discovered everything they needed to make time travel a reality.

Following a short distance behind Fitzsimmons, the Inhuman spoke to her former SO. "I guess I won't have to worry about being a mom," Daisy murmured quietly as she avoided May's eyes. "I can't believe they actually did it."

"Did you ever doubt them?" May asked in an equally soft voice. Between Fitzsimmons, Bruce Banner, Tony Stark and Shuri, there'd been no doubt in her mind they would find a solution.

"Not doubt," Daisy denied. Fitzsimmons were both brilliant. Along with Shuri, Banner and even Stark, she knew if anyone was going to find a solution, it was them. "But it did seem like an impossible dream," she confessed while shaking her head in negative. "I couldn't wait for this day, to have the ability to go back and change things so that Coulson got to live…that he never died in New York in the first place." While the scale was so much bigger than that, Coulson had been the driving force behind her passion to help find a solution. "But now…" She trailed off with a deep breath. "It's almost like I've been shown a life that was once possible, but now isn't."

"Hurry up you two," Fitz called out from further up the hall. "Everyone's waiting on us." As soon as he'd finished embracing his wife, he'd turned to the other two women in the room. Apparently, they'd been the last to know and the others were already gathered for a meeting.

Once everyone was settled in the conference room, Tony, Bruce and Fitz took turns explaining the machine and how they got it to work. The scientific jargon proved to be little difficult to understand at times so things needed to be 'dumbed down' periodically for those that weren't as scientifically inclined.

"Okay, and you're saying that once you go back and talk to our…your counterparts that the world we live in now will what?" Agent Piper asked after Fitz, Bruce and Tony finished explaining things.

"In theory, everything here will just fade away," Bruce replied. "It will be the same for anyone who travels back. Once things have effectively changed, they'll cease to exist as well, so we only have the one shot."

"So, we're going to…what? Write down what needs to be changed and then go back and change it?" Natasha asked. Their biggest concern for so long had been building a working time machine. They hadn't exactly planned out what they would do if or when one was invented. The moment was completely surreal. If anyone could have done it, it would have been her husband, Leo Fitz and Tony Stark with Shuri's help from Wakanda. However, it always seemed like a pipe dream, until that afternoon.

"See, that's the tricky thing," Fitz answered. "What happened already needs to happen because it led us to this moment."

Jemma, witnessing the confused expressions around her tried to explain it better for the entirety of the group. "Say we sent Tony back in time. If Tony were to confront the Avengers and tell them what was going to happen, they would go out of their way to make different decisions which could potentially create an alternate reality."

"And Tony would instantly cease to exist because the experiences that shaped him into who he is and what led him to being in that position may not occur," Bruce finished.

"So, what option does that leave us with?" Steve asked then.

"We don't go back to change things, but we fix what has already occurred," Tony answered.

"You've lost me," Yo-Yo said, frowning.

"Take Hydra as an example," Fitz told her. "Hydra needs to happen. If Hydra doesn't come out a lot of things we've faced may not happen and we'd all be in completely different places."

"Which could create an alternate reality…" Elena said, seeing his point.

Fitz nodded. "However, once Hydra does come out, hypothetically, we could use the knowledge we have to find Sgt. Barnes sooner than what happened this time around," he said, watching as those around them nodded in understanding.

"After debating things and listing pros and cons, we've figured that our main concern should be destroying one of the Infinity Stones," Tony said.

Fitz nodded along with Tony's words. "The Mind and Space stones were in SHIELD's possession at one time so one of those would be the best bet."

"Oh?" Melinda asked. "Yes, I'm sure if we ask Fury nicely for the Tesseract, he'll give it right up," she finished flatly.

While various occupants of the room that knew the former director personally smiled in amusement, knowing how correct May had been with her sarcastic comment, Steve cleared his throat. "She's right," he pointed out, looking to Tony. "Fury won't give it up without answers and stealing it would almost certainly lead to bad things for whomever was involved."

Thor, whose mouth had been pulled into a frown since Tony mentioned destroying a stone, spoke up before Tony could argue with Steve. "For argument's sake, let us say we have a time in mind to take one of the gems. Only Celestials or beings with immense power can touch a stone and survive it," Thor reminded the group. "How is it to be destroyed if we cannot touch it?"

His comrade made a valid point and Steve combed over his memories, attempting to think of anything that could help. He remembered back to the time just prior to the battle in Wakanda. "When Vision suggested we destroy the Mind Stone, he seemed pretty sure that Wanda would be capable of such a thing."

Tony immediately started shaking his head in negative. "Even if that is the case, she isn't here to send back and if whomever we choose to send back were to say something to her it could potentially create an alternate reality," he pointed out for the group.

"We believe the candidates are a little closer to home," Bruce said then as he looked first to Thor and then to Daisy.

The Asgardian followed Bruce's line of sight and settled his gaze on Daisy. Of those present in the room, they did appear to stand the strongest chance of destroying a stone without the unfortunate side effect of changing too many things. However, Daisy's power gave her a slight advantage over him. Unlike her, he would have touch the stone with his hands and he didn't know if it was something he could even handle.

As soon as Bruce rested his eyes on her, Daisy immediately read into the meaning behind his words. She forced her gaze away from him and looked to Thor. Wouldn't he be the better option? He'd traveled the universe and faced down a multitude of foes during his long life. "One of us?" She asked then, her gaze falling on Steve, curious about his reaction. Though he hadn't said anything, she could see the displeasure easily expressed on his face.

"Or both," Tony replied.

"We don't even know if my powers would be able to destroy one of the stones," Daisy denied. Though the serum had provided a significant increase in her powers, that didn't mean it could destroy an Infinity Stone…

"Between all of Thor's experience and your enhanced ability, we believe you two have the best success rate," Fitz said then.

Daisy looked around the room to find everyone considering the idea based on his point. She cast a quick glance at Steve before looking at the rest of the occupants of the room. "And all you feel that way?" When no nay-sayers spoke up, she looked at Jemma. "I need to speak to you privately."

"This is hardly time for secrets," Tony scoffed.

"And this is in a medical capacity," Daisy shot back quickly. "So, if you'd like for me to even consider doing this, then I'll need to confer with my acting physician." She purposely avoided looking in Steve's direction. They would need to have a conversation, but a room full of people was hardly the ideal place for such a thing. "Jemma?" She asked, standing up and making her way towards the hallway.

As the two women shut the door behind them, Tony, Bruce, Mack and Clint looked to Steve for an answer.

The first Avenger could only shake his head in negative. "I've got no idea what's going on," he admitted with a frown as he looked towards the door Daisy had exited from. Daisy never got sick, as long as he'd known her, she'd never had to seek Jemma out for any medical attention…save for check-ups after any altercations she'd had.

Bruce nodded before looking towards his wife, pausing when he noticed the reflective expression on her face. "But, you do," he said softly.

Natasha sighed as everyone turned to her, but her main concern was Steve. She watched as his head spun around to look at her.

"Nat?" He asked. Daisy had gone to Natasha for something without even telling him anything?

She shook her head. "She didn't tell me, I just happened to walk into it," she explained as she watched him make his way toward the door.

Daisy waited in the hall for Jemma to join her. When she heard the door close behind her friend, she spun around to face her. "Is me traveling while pregnant even a possibility?" She asked, searching the woman's face.

"Theoretically," Jemma replied. "The idea stands that every aspect of you would be sent to the past, including the unborn fetus. However, we have no facts to work with, so this is just speculation at this point."

Daisy nodded. She knew that if they managed to achieve their goal, they would all disappear and that her baby wouldn't be born. However, that didn't mean she could willfully go along with something that may terminate the pregnancy beforehand. "And you agree with Fitz that Thor and I are the best candidates?"

While she wanted to argue against the point that had been made, she knew she couldn't. "Of all of us here today," Jemma began, "yes," she confessed, watching as Daisy turned away from her. However, she also needed her patient to hear her reservation. "But this is a completely new frontier that hasn't been explored, I can't guarantee the safety of the baby."

Opening the door with determination to find out exactly what had Daisy so wound up, he fell short upon hearing the tail end of the conversation. Baby?! "Baby?" Daisy was pregnant?

Daisy spun around hearing the word fall from Steve's mouth. She found him standing under the doorway, his hand propping it open for all to hear.

When he didn't get a verbal reaction from her, he spoke again. "You're pregnant?" He asked as his voice cracked with emotion. Breaking himself from his shock, he stepped out in the hall to join the women, stopping in front of Daisy.

Daisy nibbled on her bottom lip before nodding. "I am," she said, watching as his eyes trailed down to her still flat stomach. "I started suspecting it last week, but I didn't find out for sure until I took a test that I picked up at the grocery store. Jemma confirmed it for me when I got back," she tacked on quietly. "I know this is hardly the best time, specially now-" Her words were cut off as he pulled her into his arms and slanted his mouth over hers.

Jemma smiled at the pair, but when neither pulled away from one another, she turned away from them in effort to give them a bit of privacy, or as much as she could…seeing as they were in a hallway.

Steve, aware that they weren't alone, pulled away from Daisy. "What about what you said before? About never wanting to be a mother?"

"I meant it," she replied quietly, watching as her boyfriend deflated slightly. "But that doesn't mean I won't get used to the idea…or, well, would have gotten used to it."

And just like that, his elation came crashing down. She was pregnant with his child, a child that would never get a chance to live… He looked to Jemma for the first time since joining the women. "Would she even be able to travel back in time while pregnant?"

Jemma met his gaze and smiled sadly. "I was just explaining to Daisy that it is theoretically possible, but that I have no way to guarantee the baby's safety."

Steve nodded in response before looking at Daisy. "Then, you can't do this," he told her softly, not wanting her to place herself or their unborn child in a potentially dangerous situation.

Before he'd even finished his words, Daisy was nodding. "I was thinking the same thing," she replied as guilt spread through her body. "We should probably head back in and let the others know…"

Placing an arm around Daisy, the three returned to the room. While Jemma found her previous spot, Steve had yet to detangle himself from his girlfriend. There was no doubt in his mind that the occupants in the room were aware of the baby. "We need to come up with another plan," he said flatly, leaving no room for argument.

Tony opened his mouth to reply, but a touch of Bruce's hand on his shoulder gathered his attention. He watched the scientist frown while shaking his head in negative before he gave in to the action. He closed his mouth and pursed his lips.

"Okay," Banner said, meeting Steve's gaze. "Until now, our plan involved Daisy, so we're gonna have to go back to the drawing board," he warned the others before looking back to Steve. He watched his friend thank him silently and he inclined his head in response.

* * *

"I'm sorry," Daisy immediately apologized once they were back in the privacy of their room.

Closing the door behind him, Steve led her to the bed before claiming a seat next to her. "Why are you apologizing?"

"I've messed everything up," she whispered as tears welled up in her eyes.

"You didn't mess anything up," he passionately denied as he turned towards her body. He knew she felt guilty for not agreeing to go back along with Thor. "We," he corrected, "didn't mess anything up," he cupped her chin and forced her to meet his gaze.

She searched his gaze. "But there was a whole plan in play and now it needs to be changed," she replied as she looked away.

"No one blames you for wanting to put the baby first," he told her, thinking of the all of the 'congratulations' they'd received once the meeting had officially ended. "Yes, the plan has changed, but we're still going to make sure things are fixed."

She nodded minutely as she leaned against him and rested her head against his shoulder. "You aren't disappointed, are you?"

Extending his arm out, he encased her in his arm and rested his hand on the side of her stomach. "Of course not," he quickly answered.

Though that hadn't been exactly what she'd meant by her inquiry, the relief that followed the answer was welcomed. "That's good to know, but I was referring more about our situation, I mean the fact that we aren't married," she clarified as she turned her to meet his gaze.

"Do you want to get married?" He responded before he could help himself. When she arched an eyebrow in response to his inquiry, he realized how his words could be taken out of context and smiled. "Is marriage something that you want?"

She shrugged her shoulders. "I guess." When he gave her an imploring stare, she shook her head. "I don't not want to get married," Daisy added. "None of my previous relationships were serious enough to invoke such a question. However, when I do think on my life twenty years from now, I do see a faceless husband." She'd just never assigned that husband a face. "I know you've adapted a lot to this time, but there are still those few beliefs that you'll never compromise on."

He offered her a sheepish smile for how well she knew him. "Ideally, I would have preferred if we were married first," he admitted. "But with the uncertainty of our future, I don't want to waste my time focusing on things that in the grand scheme of things, aren't as important," he told her passionately. "I love you and I'll be by your side…for however long we have left."

Daisy untangled his arm from around her shoulders. Bringing his hand to her mouth, she kissed the back of it before she scooted back on the bed and laid out. She held her hand out in silent a silent invitation for him to join her.

He hesitated for a moment before claiming the open spot next to her. Once he was at her side, he turned on his side and placed a hand on her stomach.

"You know you won't be able to feel anything for a few months, right?" She asked.

He smiled at her. "I know," he admitted, but didn't remove his hand.

Closing her eyes, Daisy rested one of her hands over his. "I hope it's a boy."

"Do you?" Didn't most women want a little girl? "I'd be happy with that," he told her. "Then again, I'd be just as happy if it was girl."

"If it is a boy, I thought I'd name him after AC," she said, opening her eyes and looking at him. "Coulson…as a middle name," she added on the last bit in case he thought she meant as a first. "And since it's after someone on my side, I thought we could name his first one after someone on your side. Maybe one of the Avengers?"

Steve instantly shook his head in negative and snorted. "Like Tony?" While he and Tony may have mended fences, he wouldn't be naming any child of his after the sometimes-impulsive billionaire.

She smiled in amusement before she tried again. "Or…we could name him after one of your closest friends? Sam or James…or even Buchanan."

"Buchanan?" Steve parroted. "Buchanan Coulson Rogers," he said, putting all names together. "That's a mouthful isn't it?" He frowned.

She scrunched her nose, having listened to the entire name as he said it. "Yeah, I guess it does kind of sound like a law firm," she admitted.

"Joseph," Steve provided then. "After my father."

"Joseph Coulson Rogers," she tested the name. "Sounds perfect," she mumbled as her eyes began to sting with unshed tears. She was naming a child that probably wouldn't even have a chance to be born… The tears fell from the corner of both of her eyes, rolling into her hair.

Taking a closer look at his love, Steve frowned in concern. "Daisy?" He asked cautiously.

It wasn't until she was addressed that she let out a sob. First one, and then another and then another until they turned into one long wail. Giving into her grief, she rolled into his side and cuddled against him.

Automatically wrapping her in in his embrace, he placed a kiss on the top of her head.

"It isn't fair," she cried out.

He tightened his hold on her. "I know," he croaked, his voice hoarse from his own emotions.

"I know it doesn't make sense, me, crying. Earlier, I was scared out of mind about becoming a mother, and now I'm crying because I won't…" She sniffled. "Stupid pregnancy hormones…"

He kissed her temple and smiled sadly.

"I just…all this time we were all in agreement that time travel would be our best bet at changing things, and I was on board with that." She really had been. Aside from the 3.5 billion people that instantly disappeared, all she'd wanted was a chance for Coulson to live, to have never died in New York in the first place. Even if that meant that she would never be introduced to him, as long as he lived… "But now?" She fell into silence. "I don't want to give this up for a reality where you and I might never even meet, let alone have a child…" She confessed. "I never even really considered how Fitzsimmons must have felt knowing that Elias wouldn't have a chance to grow up." Logically, she knew that they must have been upset by the idea of their innocent son never getting a chance to grow up, but it wasn't until she found herself in a similar position that it really hit home.

"We might still meet each other," he offered after a moment of silence.

She offered up a doubtful look in response to his words. "We only met after Thanos did the finger snap. If he never has a chance to do that, we won't meet," Daisy replied.

"I'd still be involved with the Avengers, you'd still be with SHIELD…"

She shook her head in negative. "If we do manage to get the tesseract in our possession and destroy the stone before the battle of New York, there won't be a group of Avengers," because they wouldn't be needed. "And even if SHIELD will still exist, I may not end up on their radar," she pointed out softly.

He couldn't hide his skepticism. "Really? Because from what I understand, your time as a hacktivist garnered their attention prior to your meeting with Mike Peterson." He understood her fear, because he felt the same way. From the moment that time travel had become the group's main focus, he'd wondered what that would mean for their personal lives and relationships. He didn't want to go from a life with her by his side to one where she was a complete stranger. And though a younger version of himself may not have had the experience of having her in his life, he knew what his younger self would be missing. "We may not have met until later on, but that doesn't mean that we couldn't be good together under normal circumstances."

"Do you really believe that?" She asked.

He nodded after a moment of hesitation. "I've had my doubts in the past," he said. "But one of us needs to believe, even if we have to take turns."

He appeared to be in complete earnest, and she leaned her head against him once again. "I'm scared," she confessed.

"Me too," he admitted quietly. He wouldn't be surprised if their friends all felt the same exact way. When they slipped into silence, he was tempted to say more about their situation, but in the end, he decided against it. Instead, he flexed his hand over her stomach. "What if it's a girl?" He asked quietly. "Any names come to mind?"

She shook her head and nibbled on her bottom lip. "Natalia May?" She said, though it came out sounding more like a question. "Melinda? Honestly, it never occurred to me that it could be a girl." Even when she was still in the grocery store with Natasha, her heart settled on a boy.


End file.
